This was posted on the Wellpet mail list today, the poster said it was from a pets4homeopathy list. I found the pets4homeopathy on the web but couldn't find the food rating thing. But i thought it was interesting. So i'm posting it below. Something happened to item number 1, some kind of typo, apparently it was supposed to say "subtract X number of points," but it got messed up.

From the Pets4Homeopathy list:

Start with 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product" subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat,
meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source,subtract
5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first
five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice
flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than
2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil,
subtract 2 points
11)If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is
allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't
allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't
allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist,
add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3
points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2
points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2
poits
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than
the first one; count chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free add 1 point

And there are some total differences in scoring, between the grading system of the first post, and the opinion of the website editors in the link!

Which underlines that there are so many opinions and perspectives on foods and the role of different ingredients. It's good to read widely to form your opinion and talk to people -- also see what your dog seems to like but that isn't necessariy the best way to form an opinion (after all leave a child to select its own diet and it would be junk food all the way...:lol:

I'm sure some are better than others...and everybody has their own preference. We're giving Bo ProPlan small-breed puppy, but we give the big dogs Pedigree. We tried several much costlier brands that advertised this and that 'improvement', but I never saw any of the 'improvements'...so Pedigree it is. Available everywhere, too.

KC

WoodHaven

23rd June 2006, 12:24 PM

Sandy, thanks for that link! Really good info for these sources.

You are very welcome. I like to see lots of opinions and see why a food is "dismissed" as poor. One of the drawbacks of high quality foods seems to be low fiber content. Last year we had an impacted anal gland. Sandy